Littleton City Council voted unanimously July 17 to settle with the state Water Quality Control Division, which alleged several violations occurred at the Littleton/Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant in the last several years.

According to the division, there were 13 wastewater spills between 2005 and 2009 that the plant did not report to the state, and 11 others that were reported. Of the 11, reporting was delayed in two of them.

A chart prepared by the division shows there was one 2,500-gallon chemical spill into the river, in January 2010.

The largest spill was 285,000 gallons of wastewater that reached land on July 11, 2007.

The day before, 100,000 gallons of wastewater went into the river.

All but one of the allegations was refuted by counsel, according to City Attorney Kirsten Crawford, who didn’t specify which one.

“(The plant) generally denied all of the allegations made in the compliance advisory on the grounds that there was a lack of any evidence that any of the spill events resulted in any untreated wastewater reaching the South Platte River or the groundwater table,” according to the compliance order issued by the division. Plant representatives also denied any reporting issues.

The division’s findings say the plant’s statement was “not consistent” with what it discovered during its investigation.

The city agreed to a $105,150 administrative penalty, to be split evenly between Littleton and Englewood. Englewood City Council will decide whether to follow suit at its next regular meeting, Aug. 6. Council stressed that the settlement is not an admission of guilt.

“This is just a way to close the book, move on and get it behind us so we can stop paying attorneys,” said Councilor Phil Cernanec.

The division allows the financial penalty to be offset by environmental projects that benefit the community. Hunt said Littleton will continue work on the City Ditch trail, and the money will come out of the plant’s budget.

“We’re going to do something good that we might have been going to do anyway,” said Cernanec.